SMIC and Qualcomm plans to invest in SJsemi

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), a Chinese semiconductor foundry providing IC's, and a Qualcomm subsidiary, have signed a non-legally binding term sheet to invest USD 280 million in SJ Semiconductor.

If the contemplated investment is completed, the funds raised by SJsemi will be put towards accelerate the establishment of China's first 12" bumping production line, which is expected to expand the scale of production, improve its manufacturing capabilities and improve China's overall chip manufacturing ecosystem.

Located in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province, SJsemi was founded in August 2014 through a joint venture between SMIC and Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology (JCET). SJsemi will serve as a pure play Middle-End-Of-Line (MEOL) entity that focuses on advanced bumping production.

Dong Cui, CEO of SJsemi, commented: "We'd like to thank SMIC, CICIIF and Qualcomm Incorporated for all of their support. This round of investment, if completed, will help expand our production capacity and accelerate the construction progress while demonstrating the strong confidence our investors have in the future of SJsemi. This will help bridge SMIC's 28nm process technology and JCET's back-end packaging and assembly capabilities, to create an advanced IC manufacturing supply chain in China."